Into the Woods
by emisonxx
Summary: One-Shot? Idea I came up with while day-dreaming about Ali in her lovely redcoat. Alison just can't help herself- even while in danger she has to see Emily.


A/N: So this is a one-shot idea I came up with because I was really bored and I was thinking about redcoat. Enjoy.

x0x0x0

A flash of lightning illuminates the night, and a petite thin blonde runs across the yard through pelting rain, her body shivering. Her red coat is soaked, and her body is drenched. She feels her boots sloshing through mud and she curses as she slips and falls forward, landing on the palms of her hands with a muffled yelp. She bites her tongue in the process, tasting copper instantly.

"Ali?! Is that you?" she hears a voice call out from behind her and it breaks her heart as she grits her teeth and scrambles to her feet, continuing to run with urgency away from the only person she's ever loved. "Please I just want to talk to you!"

Alison DiLaurentis shakes her head as she dashes off the grass onto the sidewalk, across the street, and far off into the night, not stopping until she reaches the center of town.

That may have been the stupidest thing she's ever done. She's done a lot of moronic things in her life, but visiting Emily Fields in the middle of a thunderstorm with -A hot on her trail is pretty high up on her list. She couldn't _help _it. She'd heard that Emily had been crying all day, locked away in her bedroom. Alison is well aware it's the second anniversary of her disappearance, and she knows how hard it's been on the brunette. She had thought there may have been something she could do, pretend to appear in a dream or something.

She had been so stupid though, what did she actually think was going to happen? That they would kiss and makeup? If only.

As she rounds a corner into an ally way, she pauses momentarily, leaning against the brick, hoping she's led A away from Emily's empty house (the girl should not be sleeping alone without her parents home) and managed to shake A off as well.

She closes her eyes, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath. Her blonde hair is matted to her face and she's used to the feeling of being a fugitive, but it's moments like this that make her miss her bed, hot food, her safety, her friends, and her mermaid.

When she opens her eyes, she sees a hooded figure round the corner and before she has a chance to scream they are right in front of her, pinning her shoulders to the wall, body pressed up close.

This is it, this is surely the end of her-

"Alison?"

The blonde's brows furrow as she hears a broken, hoarse voice, and her hands fly up to pull the hood down. She gasps, completely caught off guard.

"Emily," she says with wide eyes, her body suddenly aware of how close they are.

"You're really alive," Emily breathes, brown eyes staring at her with so many emotions Alison isn't sure whether Emily is going to start crying or going to slap her.

"It's not safe Em, please just go," Alison pleads trying to pull away as much as it kills everything in her to rip away.

But she feels strong hands grab onto her arm and yank her close.

"You can't leave me, not again," Emily says, her lips quivering and Alison notes that the brunette is shaking worse than she is.

"You don't understand, I have to, this is how it has to be," Alison grinds out harsher than she should have. But it's better if Emily hates her, it's for the best. Emily shouldn't love a monster like her.

"I can help you," Emily argues desperately. "You don't have to run."

As she stares pleadingly at Alison, the blonde feels her own eyes tear up.

"You never stopped caring about me did you, not even after everything I put you through," Alison cries softly, her voice breaking as she lets her hand come up and hold Emily's face if only just for a moment.

"How could I?"

"Emily, leave me alone, please, you have to," Alison tries to reason.

"Don't you love me?" Emily almost shouts, her eyes full of hesitation and vulnerability.

Alison can't take this, she can't stand seeing what she's done to her mermaid. So she grabs her face and smashes her lips against Emily's, startling her but needing to taste her. The blonde kisses her hard, bruising her lips as she kisses her with everything she has.

Emily finally gets over her shock and begins to kiss her back, slowly at first and then their tongues begin to fight for dominance. Alison is caught off guard by how she can feel Emily's need- when did her mermaid become such a good kisser? The thought of her having had practice with others makes her burn with jealousy and so she pulls Emily closer, moving her body against the brunette in rhythm. They pull apart, cheeks flushed even in the freezing rain.

"Of course I do," Alison breathes as she forces herself to break the kiss. "But you have to go right now."

"I can't, please don't make me."

"Here," Alison says as she rips off her bracelet and shoves it in Emily's hand. "This is for you. I'll be back. _I promise_."

With that, she runs off down the alley as fast as she can.

Emily is left standing there with the silver bracelet, and a single charm hangs off it. She looks closely and sees that it's the Eiffel tower. Her heart is pounding and she brings her fingers up to touch her lips. Because anywhere Alison touches leaves a burning sensation- the girl is a wildfire and Emily can't stay away.

x-x-x

"What the hell were you thinking?" Cece shouts at her as Alison scurries inside the warm apartment, clothes dripping and a puddle forming where she stands.

"I couldn't just let her suffer alone," Alison replies despondently as she wrings her hair out, walking over to the fireplace to stand by it. "And clearly those other three did _such_ a good job of being with her today."

Her voice is laced with jealousy and bitterness. She wished she could be the one comforting Emily on a daily basis, or at least not be the source of all her pain.

"You can't stay here long," Cece crosses her arms and stares grimly at the younger girl.

"I know," Ali snaps and strips herself of the infamous red coat and huddles in front of the flames, desperate to get warm.

"This is not a game, someone is out to _murder_ you Alison. They will torture you, and then they'll kill you. Running in plain sight to Emily's house, are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Obviously fucking not!"

"Then stay away from her, stay away from all of them! Get out of here Alison, leave Rosewood and stay the hell away."

"You think I don't know that's what I have to do?" Alison grimaces.

"Then why are you still here?"

"I can't leave them," the blonde huffs, angry at herself for remaining loyal to those who think so lowly of her. She's not sure when things started to become so messy, it was as if in a flash her whole life was taken away from her. Now she's had to grow up quickly, on the run, constantly fearing for her life with nobody to confide in, save this snarky older blonde.

"Tomorrow night, Alison. You're leaving. Understand?"

"Whatever," she mumbles, feeling her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out, wiping the screen. Her heart sinks when she sees a blocked number. Alison feels her insides burn. If that bitch does anything to Emily, the blonde will never be able to forgive herself.

_Did you give Emily a goodnight kiss? I'll give her one for you. -A_

x-x-x

"Earth to Emily," Hanna snaps her fingers in front of the drowsy brunette. Her head snaps up slowly, her thoughts focused solely on the girl who broke her heart 2 years and 1 day ago.

"What?"

"What's going on? Your head's been in the clouds all day."

"I think I'm getting sick," she admits half the truth. She'd barely gotten any sleep and the cold rain hadn't helped her health.

"Ew, that's no good," the spunky blonde remarks as she steps slightly farther back from the brunette.

Emily rolls her eyes at the girl's antics and continues walking. She can't wrap her head around the fact that she saw Alison. And she doesn't know who to tell, or if she should even tell. Most of all, she wants to know when she'll see Ali again.

It's all she can think about as she goes through her day. After swim practice, she gets into her car and goes to drive home. As she's exiting the parking lot, she feels a cold hand come around from the back seat and clamp down on her mouth. A cold panic comes over her as she begins to scream in futile as she slams on her break and stops the car.

"Ow," she hears a muffled grimacing voice from the backseat as a thud follows. "Jesus Emily."

"Ali-m-mf," Emily whips around only to have the blonde slap a hand over her mouth again. Alison leans in close to Emily's ear and it inappropriately sends shivers down her spine.

"Don't talk, your phone is probably wired. Drive us to the kissing rock. Now."

The brunette rips Alison's hand off of her.

"Alison this is ridiculous. What the hell are you doing hiding in the back of my car?"

"Did you not just hear a word I said? You could be bugged and she could be hearing every moment of this."

"Who, Ali?"

"A! Who else do you fucking think?"

"I don't know what to think when it comes to you," Emily growls, bitterness flowing through her.

"Just drive, we're not safe anymore," Alison orders with a pleading tone in her voice.

"Fine," Emily gives in and turns around to throw her car into drive but slams on her breaks as the back car door flies open and she looks up in her rearview mirror to see blonde hair flying out the side- Alison is running away.

"Fuck that," Emily mumbles as she turns her engine off, leaving her car in the middle of the exit to the parking lot, and runs after the girl in the redcoat.

"Come back here!" Emily yells, frustrated that Alison is like a fleeting ghost- here one second, gone the next.

But the blonde doesn't stop running, she just goes as fast as her feet will let her. She reaches the edge of the woods by the school and continues to run, towards the other side of the park where the entrance of the kissing rock lies. It isn't safe- she just wants to get as far away from people as possible to say goodbye to her mermaid.

As she runs, she feels a little prick in the back of her neck. Thinking nothing of it, she keeps running, trying to lead Emily deeper into the forest where no one can get ot them, where she can properly say goodbye to the brunette. But her head starts to feel heavy, and she feels thick cobwebs settling in, and her feet suddenly have trouble moving. Her vision is blurring, and she hears Emily's footsteps approaching as her eyes shut.

"Alison!" the brunette calls out, watching as the blonde staggers and drops to her knees, before she topples over.

"Ali," she cries out, now panicked, and drops to her knees next to the blonde. She spots a little dart in the blonde's neck and her own neck almost gets whiplash as her head turns in every direction, trying to spot the attacker. Her eyes fix on the dart, and she sees a very, very tiny paper attached to it. Horrified, she pulls the dart out and takes the paper off and sticks it in her pocket.

She flips Alison's body over and picks her up, arms under her knees and back and prays to God that nobody shoots her too.

Later, she reads the mini note and it says _Next time I won't be shooting a dart. -A_

x-x-x

"Wh-where am I?" Alison's eyes open and she groggily sits up, still heavy from sleep.

"A hotel, right on the edge of town."

The blonde turns slowly to see Emily standing by the window, staring out, not even facing her. She looks down and notices she's clean, and the scent of Emily overwhelms her- she realizes she's wearing her clothes. And _god_ she's missed this smell.

"Emily?"

"What's going on Alison?" the brunette's voice is stern, and she turns to look at her newly found alive friend.

"It's complicated," the blonde mutters as she holds her head, trying to shake the cobwebs. "What happened?"

"I found a plane ticket in your bag," Emily says with a grim face. "You were going to leave, weren't you?"

"I-"

"You were going to leave, to _Paris_," Emily says the last word bitterly as she throws the flimsy boarding pass at Alison, her face contorted with the pain of betrayal

"I was going to come back for you one day," Alison whispers, face paling.

"When Alison? When I'm graduated, married to someone else?"

"Please don't do this right now-"

"I thought you were dead!" Emily cuts her off, anger and hurt running deep inside her. "And then you kissed me…and now you were going to run away again?"

"I came to say goodbye!" Alison argues, her voice straining and it cracks at the end. "I couldn't leave without seeing you. And then look what happens to me."

"You're not leaving," Emily says fiercely as she sits down next to her.

"Don't tell me what to do," Alison snaps, nostrils flaring as she glares at Emily boldly, her own body aching with regret and pain.

"I lost you once, don't make me go through that again," Emily tries to say in a stern voice but it wavers, her eyes tearing up.

"I didn't choose this," Aliso softens and her mouth quivers.

"But you did," Emily shakes her head. "You chose to leave me behind."

"You were the hardest one, I swear Emily," Alison pleads, honesty dripping from her words. It doesn't escape her that they are reunited in a nice hotel room of all places. She'd always dreamed of taking sweet Emily on a fancy hotel bed, in Paris of course. "I did it to save you."

"Save me? From who?"

"Who do you think?" Alison cries out, desperate for Emily to believe her.

"A was only ever after you-"

"A knew that I _loved_ you," Alison drops the bomb and watches as Emily becomes startled and glances at her, shock overcoming her innocent features. "She threatened to hurt you the most, over and over again. Even now."

"I wonder where A heard that rumor," Emily mumbles and Alison glares at her, jumping to her feet.

"You don't know the first thing about how I feel," Alison almost barks harshly, her defense mechanisms kicking in.

"And whose fault is that?" Emily snaps.

"If you want to sit here and doubt everything I've done for you, feel free to leave," Alison tells her stoically, her face stone cold. "I saved your life, Em."

"Some days I wish you hadn't," Emily says sharply and this unnerves the blonde in so many ways. The brunette watches as she visibly flinches, and her resolve starts to dissolve.

"You w-what?"

"I wish you never saved me, you don't understand how _painful_ the last few years have been. How easy it'd be if it all ended right there-"

"Emily don't say that," Alison orders but it sounds like a plea. "That's not you. You're not that person, you don't give up easily."

"You don't know me anymore," Emily argues hoarsely, feeling tears building behind her eyes. "I'm not sure you ever did, and I'm not sure if I ever really knew you. So why am I trying to save you again?"

"Because you love me," Alison hushes her gently as she goes over to her and wraps her arms around the taller girl, holding her. "And you know I love you."

"I don't know either of those things-"

Emily is cut off by a eerie creaking noise and the two of them shoot each other glances before looking towards the doorway, the bathroom next to it.

"You heard it too," Alison whispers in an almost inaudible tone as she shifts her weight, attempting to go look but Emily grabs her arm, stopping her.

"Don't-"

"Em I have you here, come on," Alison whispers and they creep towards the bathroom slowly.

The two of them suddenly shriek loudly as a black hooded figure darts out, turns the lights off and lunges at them.

"Ali, run!" Emily screams as she shoves the blonde girl aside and falls over with the hooded figure on top of her.

But the blonde refuses to listen and jumps on the black figure from behind, wrapping her arms around them trying to choke them. But she's quickly thrown off as they push their body up and send her flying into the wall, her head knocking it painfully.

In one swift motion, the hooded figure punches Emily, right in the face, sending the brunette falling back to the ground. He/She/It turns to pounce on Alison, grabbing at her neck, trying to squeeze as hard as possible.

Alison is overtaken by a sudden gripping fear- her body is suddenly paralyzed as she tries to scream, every last nerve of her on fire.

She feels her oxygen supply slowly being cut out- and she chokes out cries for help, unable to see if Emily's okay.

The brunette is dizzy in shock on the floor, holding the side of her head painfully- there's definitely going to be a black eye tomorrow. But she hears the sound of Alison struggling- and she jumps to her feet, enraged, going into full protective mode. And suddenly, her mind goes blank as she propels herself into animalistic state of mind and lunges-

And that's the last thing she remembers until she feels tiny hands grabbing her, pulling her backwards, and a screaming she recognizes as Alison. It takes her a few moments to understand what she's saying, but then it's crystal clear- "Emily stop you'll kill her!"


End file.
